Ripred
Ripred is a grizzled, gray gnawer with two intersecting scars across his face, one of which is given to him by Solovet before the beginning of the series. He receives the other during the final battle between the humans and the gnawers in Gregor and the Code of Claw. Though frequently slouches, and evinces laziness, he is a formidable fighter, and is feared by gnawers and humans alike. Before the Events Of The Underland Chronicles Very little is known of Ripred's life before the beginning of the Underland Chronicles. It is known that he had a wife and pups, all of whom drowned at the Garden of Hesperides when the humans broke the dike. Despite this, Ripred doesn't appear to hold the Underlanders at fault for their deaths, and seeks instead to end the fighting between the rats and the humans, so that their deaths might not be in vain. The Underland Chronicles In the first book, Gregor the Overlander, Ripred attacks the questers with a band of other rats, and is knocked into the river by Vikus. He later turns up at the Underlander's camp. Though they initially panic, Vikus and Solovet reveal that they know Ripred, and that the attack was planned. Ripred reveals that he wishes to usurp King Gorger, and believes that guiding the humans through the Rat's lands so that they may fulfill the prophecy is the best way to do so. Even so, he frequently mocks and belittles the other questers, most of whom do not trust him. Initially, Henry attempts to kill him as he sleeps, only to be stopped by Gregor, who believes that the rat can help him to find his father. Despite his sarcastic personality, Ripred is loyal to his fellow questers, standing by the group even when they are hopelessly outnumbered. After King Gorger's death, he makes his escape with a few other rats who are sympathetic to his cause. In the second book, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane, Ripred brings the scent seer Twitchtip to Gregor to help him in locating the Bane. Though Twitchtip is reluctant to trust the humans, Ripred promises to let her join his band if he succeeds. Twitchtip later reveals to Gregor that Ripred is a rager, as is Gregor himself. The condition is characterized by preternatural combat abilities, explaining why Ripred is an extremely adept fighter. Later, Gregor and Ares entrust the infant Bane, also known as Pearlpelt to his care. At first, an angry Ripred threatens to kill the pup, but Gregor manages to persuade him to spare the Bane's life, and expresses the hope that Ripred will prevent it from becoming the evil described in Sandwich's prophecy. Ripred plays a more central role in the third book, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods. In the beginning, Ripred sends a horde of Overland rats to retrieve Gregor, much to everyone's horror. He then meets with Gregor and tells him that the Prophecy of Blood is upon them and that Ares has contracted the plague mentioned in the prophecy. He states that the plague is transmitted by fleas, and that Ares is believed to have contracted in from the flesh-eating mites which he encountered in the Waterway. He tells Gregor that he is only needed for a short council, though in actuality the prophecy states that Gregor must journey across the jungle to the Vineyard of Eyes to find the cure. The plague affects gnawers as well as humans, and, as he is one close terms with the Underlanders, Ripred manages to convince them to give flea powder to the gnawers to slow the spread of the plague from spreading. He joins Gregor and his companions in their search for the cure, but is often harsh to his fellow questers, particularly Gregor. He later gives Luxa a crucial piece of information, stating that she is now in his debt. In book four, Gregor and the Marks of Secret, Ripred attempted to kill the Bane with Gregor's help. However, he is taken prisoner by the Bane's guards and is thrown into an obsidian pit in Hades Hall and left there to starve. During his imprisonment, his teeth grow to a great length due to the fact that the pit lacks matter on which to gnaw. Fortunately, Luxa, Gregor, Howard and their companions find and rescue him, leading Ripred find himself in Luxa's debt, much to his annoyance. Gregor asks Ares to carry the injured Ripred, since he is strong enough to do so, a decision with which Luxa disagrees. This leads to a heated argument between Gregor and Luxa. Ripred, who like most rats, can smell emotions to some extent, senses a deep affection between the two, though Gregor denies loving Luxa. Later when the bats are trapped in a chamber of air currents, Ripred figures out how to get them out without injuring them. He later prevents Luxa flying into a field of poisonous gas in a foolhardy but noble attempt to save the nibblers, saving her life and repaying his debt to her. At the end of the book, Ripred journies with Luxa, Aurora, Howard and Nike to recruit the remainder of the Nibblers. In the fifth book Gregor and the Code of Claw, Ripred is shown fighting with the Underlanders. After returning to Regalia, he works with the Regalian council. After Gregor is imprisoned by Solovet for insubordination, Ripred works with Howard to free him, by revealing to Solovet Gregor's attachment to her granddaughter. Through Gregor is initially resentful, the ploy works, and he is released. After Gregor's sister Lizzie comes to the Underland to deliver a message to Gregor and descends into a full-blown panic attack at the sight of its inhabitants, Ripred works to calm her. Gregor is mystified by the strange bond between the two until he overhears Ripred admitting to Lizzie that she reminds him of Silksharp, one of his deceased pups who also had a love of puzzles. Ripred participates in the final battle, stationing himself in front of the cave in which Lizzie and Boots are sheltered, which turns out to be a passage to the waterway, and fighting off the rats who try to enter. However, in doing so he accidentally stumbles upon the island of flesh-eating mites that Gregor encounteres in the second book. After the battle, several rat skeletons are discovered in the cave, including that of a large male who managed to drag himelf several hundred yards before being overcome by the mites. Initially, the skeleton is believed to be Ripred's, for, as Luxa states "Who but Ripred could have managed such a feat?" Towards the end of the book, Ripred makes his reappearance during the peace negotiations between the rats and the humans, revealing that he hid under the body of another rat called Cleaver when crawling through the tunnel to avoid being eaten. The skeleton which was initially believed to be Ripred's was, in fact, that of Cleaver. He now bears another scar which intersects the first to form an 'X', which he claims to have sustained during his struggle to defend Gregor's sister from the rats. Upon seeing it, Luxa's cousin Nerissa declares that the scar correlates with the description in another of Sandwich's prophecies, The Peacemaker, as one scar was given by a human, and the other by a rat. Declaring himself to be the Peacemaker of the prophecy, Ripred nominates himself to speak for the rats, and, after Lapblood voices her support, is accepted by the rats as their spokesman. Luxa, believing the rats to be a threat to Regalia, order Ripred to lead them into the Lands], after which Ripred threatens to lead combined forces of the rats against her. He also brings up the possibility that Gregor might decide to fight with the rats instead of supporting Luxa in banishing them to their deaths. Upon hearing this, Gregor becomes enraged, and accuses Ripred and Luxa of forgetting all those who died so that piece could be achieved. He snaps the sword of Sandwich, "killing" the warrior and fulfilling the final prophecy. Luxa rethinks her initial plan, and she and Ripred choose to forge peace between their respective nations by bonding with one another. After the negotiations conclude, Luxa speculates that Ripred gave himself the scar in order to sway the superstitious Underlanders, a suggestion which Ripred never definitively confirms nor denies. Category:Gnawers Category:Male Category:Ragers